Amarinthine Microcosm
by Shrike's thorn
Summary: Shrike and his three friends receive a copy of a Game from a shady mustardblood hacker, and for some reason they decide to play it.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! This is my first fanfic but I have a story named Sideways in Time in the sci-fi section of fictionpress. I try to maintain immaculate grammar so tell me if you see any mistakes. ALSO, I want to see what perspective I should tell the story from: first-person or third-person? Until I get a poll please tell me in a review. Hope you like it!**

A young businesstroll sits in his Respiteblock. He is wearing a grey suit with teal lapels and a pink undershirt. On the right of the suit jacket is a cyan eagle carefully embroidered. Most people don't know his name at all, and you are lucky a shrewd businesstroll like himself will tell you even his first name. His name Shrike and he is the young Emperor's advisor. Shrike has just returned from a meeting with a few of the Emperor's associates, which is irrelevant.

Shrike took off his suit and changed into a more casual choice of attire, something maybe more suitable to bash imps with, though he has no clue where one would find an imp. He changes into a black shirt with another cyan eagle on the front. Shrike's respiteblock is the top floor of a large Victorian tower. There was a balcony with an ornate rail that looked out onto the sea. If one was to look through a pair of binoculars you would see the spires of the Emperor's hive jutting out from under the water like mountains. Down below is an expansive forest of his favourite tree: fir. He was not sure why, but Shrike seemed at home perched atop a tree, like his lusus often was.

Come to think of it, where was his wingbeast lusus? No doubt soaring through the sky majestically or something like that. Really not very productive. Back to business. You sit down at your computer to see that someone is trolling you.

- unabashedCountess [UC] began trolling godshawkSongbird [GS] -

UC: hello

GS: Yes?

UC: vhat?

GS: I assumed you wanted something

UC: uh… yeah

GS: So?

UC: 1 vas vonder1ng about that saevio voman

GS: Oh yes? What do you wish to say?

UC: shes a b1t of a drag, dont you th1nk?

GS: Errbin. Saevio is a valuable member of this company.

UC: vhatever you say, m1ster count

GS: What are you implying?

UC: noooth1ng…

- godshawkSongbird [GS] ceased trolling unabashedCountess [UC] -

Shrike is irittated by this highblood's petty attempt to flirt and has other business to attend to. He decides to troll the Emperor and retrieve his opinion on current affairs.

- godshawkSongbird [GS] began trolling olagarroErrege [OE] -

GS: }} Good morning, Emperor.

OE: Agurrak, Shrike

GS: }} Are you well?

OE: I see you are using your assigned quirk

GS: }} Of course, Emperor. The sign of your might. What of it?

OE: I had a izugarria hacker lowblood go through your conversation logs. It would seem you have been neglecting your duties as my representative.

GS: }} I am sorry, master. If I may ask, was this lowblood the same one who is supplying us the Game?

OE: Your place is not to wonder.

GS: }} What if I ask as a friend?

OE: I concede. It was the one and the same.

GS: }} Is he really trustworthy?

OE: Are you?

GS: }} Perhaps.

OE: I have no other pressing gaiak

GS: }} Nor do I.

- olagarroErrege ceased trolling godshawkSongbird -

Two down, one to go. He only put up with that guy because it gave him a very high position in society. Honestly, he had to have google translate open to figure out what he was saying with all of that Basque or whatever. He wasn't particularly looking forward to his next conversation, but it was necessary to check over the players before they started.

- godshawkSongbird [GS] began trolling ruinousRepose [RR] -

GS: }} Good morning.

RR: what do you want

GS: }} I wanted to see if you are ready for the Game.

RR: were capitalizing this game now are we?

RR: thats shit

GS: }} You are still playing, yes?

RR: its not like ive got anything better to do

GS: }} Good.

RR: that's it

GS: }}Yes…

RR: what a waste of time

- ruinousRepose [RR] ceased trolling godshawkSongbird [GS] -

Shrike was relieved to have _that _conversation over. Petty lowbloods. They were about ready to play the Game. Errbin was sent the game through some lame hacker lowblood named Pollux or something. Errbin said it was important and the Emperor believed her and until he could stage a coup the Emperor's word is law. So, they decided to play it. The problem is this mustard fellow said the should have at least 3 players, so they were forced to recruit a more volatile member to their party. They were told Saevio was a good fighter, but potent and aggressive towards everyone, which in a way was just what they needed. The team would get one night's sleep before they started playing the Game.


	2. Chapter 2

Shrike woke up the next morning in his Jacuzzi recuperacoon to his computer beeping like crazy. He climbed out rather groggily and put on a new pair of clothes. He sat down at his desk and opened Trollian. He knew it would be TA pestering him.

- twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling godshawkSongbird [GS] -

TA: hey

TA: hey biirdy

GS: }} Yes?

TA: you need to play the Game quiick a2 fuck

TA: my 2tupiid teammate2 2tarted playing already and there are meteor2 raining down on u2 like deadly confetti

GS: }} Oh bugger. I shall commune with my teammates immediately.

TA: theyre ready to play already

GS: }} I see.

GS: }} Goodbye

- godshawkSongbird [GS] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA] -

This had escalated faster than he had expected. He had to connect to Errbin, no time to lose. Retrieving the Game from his Pocket Modus. The pocket modus was simple but sometimes rather irritating. He withdrew the Game and a hole formed in his pocket, causing his DUAL KNIVES to fall out. Not bothering to put them back, he equipped his shoulder sheath and slipped the knives into their slots.

Inserting the game, labeled SGRUB into his computer. After a few seconds a spirograph loading screen appeared. Shrike tabbed out to Trollian and trolled Errbin

- godshawkSongbird [GS] began trolling unabashedCountess [UC] -

GS: }} Good morning.

UC: f1nally youre here

UC: veve been va1ting for ages

GS: }} Very sorry about that, I didn't know we were starting so early.

UC: 1ts one 1n the afternoon dumbass

GS: }} Is it really? Never matter. You must connect to me.

UC: 1 can certa1nly do that

GS: }} Ace.

Shrike kept the conversation open and tabbed back to SGRUB. It had finished loading and said PLEASE WAIT FOR SERVER PLAYER. After a few seconds An interface came up saying UC wants to be your server player – accept?

Shrike pressed accept and the window closed. Hearing a loud noise behind him he turned around to see his recuperacoon flying from the wall and a large heavy object being placed in the space that was left

GS: }} What in the blazes are you doing?

UC: mak1ng some renovat1ons

GS: }} You're not the best construction worker I've seen.

UC: th1s vhole hive sucks

UC: the drones screved th1s one up

GS: }} How do you even pronounce screved? And the drones did NOT botch this hive. It was constructed to my exact specifications.

UC: you have no taste

GS: }} Bah.

That insolent fudgeblood. He looked out of the hole in the wall to see a large purple cursor picking up the recuperacoon, now rather useless.

GS: }} What are you doing with that?

UC: 1 need to drop 1t on the cruxtruder

GS: }} Maybe it would have been better if you HADN'T dropped my recuperacoon of the tower.

UC: vhatever

Impudent woman. Shrike picked up his PDA then walked downstairs to see another device, this one a circular platform. Errbin told him it was an alchemiter, whatever that meant. She then deployed a long object named the Totem Lathe. She told Shrike to go upstairs. What he found was the recuperacoon hovering over the cruxtruder. She dropped the recuperacoon, making it fall onto the column of the cruxtruder. The lid popped off and out came a glowing, floating sphere with a spirograph in the center and a teal object which Shrike was informed to be a cruxite dowel. He was instructed to throw an object into the spirograph, apparently named the kernelsprite. He decided to throw an Assassin's Creed poster in, causing two fragments of the kernelsprite to go up and down, respectively. What remained was Altair's face grinning crazily.

Skipping ahead, Shrike was confronted by a teal safe, which popped into existence on the bed of the alchemiter. As he approached, the door of the safe flew open, then disappeared. Left on the alchemiter was a small lockbox.

UC: damage 1t

GS: }} Beg your pardon?

UC: damage 1t. destroy 1t

GS: }} I see.

Shrike drew one of his knives before stabbing the lockbox. The knife practically bounced off, leaving barely a chip on the hard surface.

GS: }} And how do you propose I do this?

UC: 1 dunno

UC: you keep a papercl1p 1n your pocket, dont you?

GS: }} How did you know?

UC: lucky guess

Suspicious. Nevertheless, there was a large meteor falling at speed towards his hive. Shrike expertly drew his trusty paperclip from his Pocket Modus, luckily not making a hole in his pocket. Inserting the clip and a knife into the lock he swiftly unlocked it with minimal wiggling. The lockbox swung open, revealing small ceramic turtle. Though puzzled, Shrike knew what to do. Stabbing the underside of the turtle caused a flash of light and a high-pitched noise, knocking Shrike out cold.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm going to trial this chapter in first person, please give feedback as to whether you like it or not**

Whether you like it or not, you are now a young troll standing in her respiteblock.

Your name is Errbin. You don't tell anyone your last name because a… friend of yours does it and you think it's cool.

you speak vith a vague pruss1an accent.

You have just assisted the aforementioned friend to enter some place called the medium, according to another friend named Sollux.

You look around your room to see your trusty (although rusty) scythe, though it could go with an upgrade. (though you have no clue how you could upgrade a scythe) You love to FLARP despite the game being frowned upon by other bluebloods. Your Hive is an underground system of caves most of which is made up of FLARP loot. You have enough to rival the top FLARPers. You sit down at your expensive SpacebeastWare computer, bought using FLARP funds.

You open SGRUB to see Shrike lying on the floor of his hive unconscious. He's been like that for ages, talk about sensitive.

You decide to go for a walk. You pick up your scythe and start walking towards the exit. Looking up, your blood is chilled by a gust of air and a dark shape silhouetted in the cave entrance.

You nervously approached the shape as it stood stalwart. As you get closer you wonder if it has noticed you.

Trying to creep past, she was caught unawares when the silhouette drew a tall scythe and swung at your head. Your senses are like lightning from your lusus' training and you duck and swing your scythe into it's foot, causing the creature to emit an animal growl. Throwing back it's hood it reveals a bony face shaped like some sort of… Predator? Of course you've seen it before as this is your lusus.

A few clicking noises signify congratulations from the beast.

Suddenly your hear a loud noise and a flash of white-blue fire and your lusus is on the floor bleeding heavily. In the distance you see A purple cape and a cerulean shirt. Ampora and Serket. Trying to sabotage the next FLARP season no doubt. Despite the fact that the world is about to end. You guess you should take your deceased lusus inside. He might make a good thing to prototype.


End file.
